MIDDLETOWN -- Middletown firefighters battled a second-alarm blaze Sunday evening at the apartments on top of Ursel's Web and the McHugh, Chapman & Montalbano lawfirm.

Officials were called to 140 Washington St. after getting complaints from neighbors of smoke exiting the building. Once on scene, they discovered the complexity of the blaze, officials said.

"It got into the walls and floors," said Acting Fire Marshal Al Santostefano. "Once it gets in there, you got to start chopping sheetrock. It really makes it difficult to get to."

The fire originated on a third-floor apartment and officials were able to contain damage to that apartment and the apartment right below it, Santostefano said. No cause for the fire was available Sunday evening.

For the owners of Ursel's Web, news could not have come sooner as an alert employee heard her employer's address repeated over a police radio.

"My employee Mary heard it on the scanner and we raced down as quickly as we could," said Ursel Shaffer, who is celebrating 30 years at the location.

Fire had not made its way to her shop, but the fire department advised her to take precautions anyway.

"It hasn't made it in there yet, but they are afraid that water might come through the floors," said Shaffer. "We covered our customer's artwork to make sure nothing gets damaged."

Assuming there is no additional damage, the store has plans to open for its regurarly scheduled hours, Schaffer said.

No injuries were reported and no one was home during the time of the blaze, according to Santostefano. However, one lane of Washington Street west was closed and blocked by fire trucks and other emergency vehicles while police directed traffic.

A utility crew from Connecticut Light & Power pulled up to the scene shortly before 7 p.m.